Your High School has French exchange students that visit every year to learn about America: who we are (characteristics), what we believe (values), and how we behave (culture) and this year your family is hosting one of them. Besides taking them around campus, showing them life in Riverside, CA and introducing them to your friends, your French exchange student wants to see what it is really like to be an American. They want to go to Hollywood, eat fast food, visit the movie stars, and see Los Angeles because they believe whatever they have seen in movies, the internet, and social media is what life is really like in America.
Your task: You have a chance to explain to your exchange student what being an American really is by writing an argumentative essay that will be read to your French student and their classmates visiting your High School, your parents because they are hosting your student, and your teacher because she wants you to turn in this essay as a make-up assignment for when you missed school to take your French exchange student to Disneyland.
Your essay should have a thesis statement that includes the most important elements of and answers the question: what does it mean to be an American? Consider what characteristics are most important to an American and what actions prove American culture in your essay. Use what you know about argument essay writing to structure your work. Be sure to back up your claims with reasons and evidence, supported by facts and details.
